The Whole Secret Laid Open, Or the Complete Art of Making the Chemical
AnonymousProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019
Rating 2.8- Word count
- 17K words
- Chapters
- 2
Tags
English Originals Natural Sciences CraftsmanshipHands-On PracticeIllustrated StepsPractical GuideCraft RecipesFormulasFolk CraftSummary
Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Whole Secret Laid Open, Or the Complete Art of Making the ChemicalAuthor: Anonymous,Language: English, Class: QD: Science: Chemistry, Release Date: Aug 31, 2011Editor's review
This is an early chemical-operations text by an anonymous author; its title translates literally as "The Whole Secret Laid Open, or the Complete Art of Making the Chemical," and by classification it is a public-domain old book in the field of chemistry. Its value for reading lies not in the modern system of chemical knowledge but at the level of the history of technology and the history of the book: it presents the modes of expression, operative concepts and professional discourse of early chemical craft, and shows how "chemistry," before becoming a modern science, was recorded and transmitted in the form of craft and recipes. As a public-domain ebook, it is suitable as auxiliary material for research in the history of science, the history of technology, or early English texts. Note that its contents are historical; the operations and materials described in it should not be imitated or practiced according to modern safety standards.Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers studying the early history of chemistry and the history of craft technology
- Academic researchers concerned with how scientific texts evolved into modern chemistry
- Scholars who need public-domain English technical texts for textual or discourse analysis
- Collectors and bibliophiles interested in old books of ancient recipes and crafts
Not a good fit for
- Students who wish to learn modern chemical theory and experimental methods
- Chemistry enthusiasts who want to carry out the recipes in the book by hand
- Ordinary readers who prefer modern popular-science writing and need a clear knowledge framework
Reading tips
- Read it as a text in the history of technology, focusing on terminology, descriptions of operations and the organization of knowledge.
- Compare it with general works on the history of chemistry and note the differences between early craft descriptions and modern chemical concepts.
- Engage only in textual study and do not imitate any operation or recipe in the book; observe the safety boundaries of historical texts.
About the publisher
Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.
Contents
- 1
- 2
FAQ
Can this book be used to learn modern chemistry?
No. It is an old book of early chemical operations, and its knowledge framework, terminology and safety concepts all differ from those of modern chemistry; it cannot replace a modern textbook. Its value lies in helping one understand the historical process by which chemistry evolved from a craft into a science, not in providing usable modern chemical knowledge or experimental methods.Why is the author anonymous?
The available information shows that the book's author is given as anonymous; specific identity details are not stated in the given materials. When reading, one should focus on the content, format and period context of the text itself and should not make unfounded guesses about the author's identity.What background knowledge is needed to read it?
It is best to have a basic knowledge of the history of chemistry and the history of technology, and to understand the connections between early chemistry, alchemy and craft recipes. The ability to read the English original is also important, since the terminology and modes of expression in the book are remote from modern English; reading with notes or reference works on the history of chemistry is recommended.This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.
About the author
Anonymous AuthorAnonymous is a collective designation used in English-language publishing for works whose authorship is unknown or unsigned, rather than the real name of a single author. The 716 titles attributed to this name include the Gospel of John, Psalms, Romans, Luke, Philippians, and 1 Corinthians from the World English Bible, as well as the Gospel of John and Psalms from the King James Version. Such texts are mainly religious classics and ancient folk traditions that were copied, translated, and compiled over long periods, making their original authors difficult to trace; they therefore circulated anonymously. Public information is limited, and neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be confirmed. The significance of anonymity lies in focusing attention on the works themselves rather than on authorial identity, and in reminding readers of the collective and variable nature of texts in transmission.